Senior Platform Engineer

About the role

This role focuses on maintaining and improving the core infrastructure that powers ZetaChain's blockchain and AI products. Responsibilities include ensuring high availability and performance for AI developer platforms and internal tools, as well as building and maintaining monitoring and alerting systems. The engineer will also write automation and infrastructure code to enhance reliability and reduce manual tasks.

The position involves operating and maintaining production blockchain infrastructure, specifically validators, RPC services, and indexers. A key aspect is participating in on-call rotations, incident response, and post-incident reviews to ensure system stability. The role also requires close collaboration with other engineering teams to integrate reliability, scalability, and security best practices into system design.

Success in this role means continuously refining deployment, rollback, and recovery strategies, and improving Kubernetes reliability across both cloud and bare-metal environments. The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-moving startup environment, demonstrating a strong security mindset, especially when working with public or adversarial networks. Excellent communication skills are essential for interacting with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The base salary for this role in San Francisco ranges from $190,000 to $225,000, with additional liquid benefits ranging from 10% to 25% of the base.

Skills that matter here

• Go: This role requires a strong software engineering foundation with production experience in Go, used for building and maintaining infrastructure.
• Python: Candidates should have a strong software engineering foundation with production experience in Python, used for building and maintaining infrastructure.
• Linux: Deep expertise in operating Linux systems in production environments is essential for managing the underlying infrastructure.
• Kubernetes: Proven experience running Kubernetes at scale in high-availability environments is a key requirement, with a focus on improving its reliability.
• AWS: Experience with cloud platforms like AWS is relevant for managing and improving Kubernetes reliability in cloud environments.
• Cosmos SDK: Familiarity with Cosmos-based chains is a bonus, indicating exposure to the specific blockchain technology used by ZetaChain.

Who this role suits

• A person who has spent at least three years in platform, infrastructure, or site reliability engineering roles.
• Someone comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment where requirements can change frequently.
• An individual with a strong security mindset, particularly when dealing with infrastructure on public networks.
• A collaborative engineer who can communicate effectively across various technical and non-technical groups.

From the employer

What You’ll Do

• Operate and maintain production blockchain infrastructure, including validators, RPC services, indexers, and supporting services
• Ensure high availability and performance for AI‑enabled developer platforms and internal tooling
• Build and maintain monitoring, alerting, and dashboards for protocol, infrastructure, and application health
• Write high‑quality automation and infrastructure code to reduce toil and improve reliability
• Participate in on‑call rotations, incident response, and post‑incident reviews
• Partner with engineering teams to embed reliability, scalability, and security best practices into system design
• Improve Kubernetes reliability across cloud and bare‑metal environments
• Continuously refine deployment, rollback, and recovery strategies

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 3+ years of experience in Platform Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, or Site Reliability Engineering
• Strong software engineering foundation with production experience in Go and/or Python
• Deep expertise operating Linux systems in production environments
• Proven track record running Kubernetes at scale in high-availability environments
• Experience supporting distributed systems with demanding uptime requirements
• Comfort working in fast-moving startup environments with evolving requirements
• Strong security mindset, especially for infrastructure operating on public or adversarial networks
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Bonus Points

• Exposure to AI-powered infrastructure, observability tools, or developer tooling
• Experience operating blockchain nodes or validator infrastructure
• Familiarity with Cosmos-based chains or EVM clients
• Experience with DevOps, DevSecOps, or GitOps methodologies
• Active contributions to open-source projects

Not Required: Prior blockchain experience is not required —we value strong engineering fundamentals, automation skills, and distributed systems expertise above domain-specific knowledge.

Why Join Us

• Build and operate infrastructure for cutting-edge AI and blockchain systems
• Make architectural decisions that impact reliability at scale
• Work with modern, best-in-class tooling across the entire infrastructure stack
• Collaborate with talented engineers solving novel distributed systems challenges
• Competitive compensation with meaningful benefits
• Flexible hybrid work environment in San Francisco
• Backed by top-tier investors who believe in our vision

Compensation

Base Salary: $190,000 – $225,000 This range reflects base salaries for roles in the San Francisco market. For candidates in other locations, compensation is adjusted to remain competitive within their local market.

In addition to the base salary, all full-time team members receive an additional 10% to 25% in liquid benefits with upside based on role, experience, and impact. We believe in building together and sharing in the long-term success of the network. Compensation packages are designed to be competitive and aligned with the growth of both the team and the ecosystem.